The Art of Minimalism
Minimalism is an art.
It is abstract. And it comes in all different colors, shapes, and sizes with no “one size fits all” definition.
What exactly is minimalism?
Thoughts of minimalism often conjure up images of someone who sells their possessions, quits their full-time job, and lives in a downsized trailer. Wait a minute. That sort of sounds like Steve from ThinkSaveRetire, doesn’t it?
However, Steve doesn’t consider himself a minimalist. In fact, he thinks minimalism sucks. This is partly because he thinks the word “minimal” has negative connotations. In a short snippet from his article he states:
“According to Dictionary.com, one definition is “barely adequate or the least possible“. Barely adequate? That doesn’t sound happy or productive.”
The problem here is that “minimal” is quite different than “minimalism”. The word “minimal” may convey barely adequate, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that minimalism sucks.
Instead, google “minimalism” and you’ll get a totally different definition. According Collinsdictionary.com, one definition is “design or style in which the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect.” This sounds much better! And there is no negative connotation whatsoever.
Sure, it’s just semantics. Words are up for interpretation. And so is art.
Minimalism is art.
In Their Own Words
How do minimalists define “minimalism”? And who are these self-described minimalists anyway?
In the summer of 2016, my wife and I had watched the movie “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.” The main protagonists are Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who blog and run the site TheMinimalists.com. So apparently these guys are the self-described minimalists!
The movie follows their story as they leave their high-paying (but unfulfilling) corporate jobs for a simpler, more minimalist life. It highlights the idea that all of the “stuff” we buy through conspicuous consumption does not necessarily lead to happiness and fulfillment. In many cases, it can lead to more stress, strained relationships, lack of freedom, emptiness, and unhappiness.
Josh and Ryan advocate for paring down the non-essential aspects of life so that we can focus on everything that is important. Google “minimalism” and their article “What is Minimalism” is the first to come up. In their own words, they state: “What is minimalism? If we had to sum it up in a single sentence, we would say, Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.”
On Their Own Terms
Watching the movie and reading The Minimalists blog, you can readily see that Josh and Ryan use minimalism to live life on their own terms. But the movie showcases other self-described minimalists as well. This list includes Leo Babauta, Colin Wright, Courtney Carver, Joshua Becker, among a few others. These people live distinctly different lives and have their own brand of minimalism.
For example, Leo Babauta is a self-described minimalist who meditates, is vegan, and married with six kids. Okay, so the meditation and vegan part sorta sounds aligned with minimalism. But having six kids? Not so much. It’s hard enough to take care of one kid!
On the other hand, Colin Wright travels the world, lives in a different city every four months, and possesses very few material things which he can fit into a simple carry on bag. He deliberately chose this lifestyle after realizing that slaving away in the corporate world wasn’t what he wanted in life. While I am not keen on perpetual solo travel, I do enjoy traveling with very few things.
Courtney Carver is a fashion minimalist who popularized Project 333. She invites people to take the challenge wearing only 33 items of clothing for 3 months. According to her, nobody at work noticed that she was wearing the same permutation of clothes every day. Three years ago, my wife was inspired to pare down her wardrobe and I followed suit. Now, we just buy nothing.
*This picture doesn’t quite tell the whole story. I don’t have a tone of clothes, but it definitely totals to more than 33 items. Most of my clothes are hiding inside the dresser drawers. At least my clothes are usually folded in the KonMari fashion. And perhaps my watch collection may not be described as “minimalist”. I dunno, is four time pieces too much? And yes, that is a saxophone case.
What’s My Definition of Minimalism?
I’m just going to combine what I consider two of the best definitions out there.
I define minimalism as “Designing a lifestyle in which the simplest and most essential elements are used to create the maximum effect of achieving freedom, fulfillment, and happiness.”
If any element in my life is not adding value, I minimize it. And if any material possession moves me further away from the goal of attaining freedom, fulfillment, and happiness, then I put it away, let it go, or avoid bringing it into my life in the first place. To that end, my wife and I have an system that we use to help determine what is worthy of our time, money, energy, and attention.
While my wife and I are not hardcore minimalists, we have definitely gravitated toward a more minimalist lifestyle over the past few years.
Remember: minimalism is an art. It’s what you make of it.
So far, we are trying to make the most of it. Minimalism has certainly benefited our life in many ways, which could be a topic of discussion in a future post.
What is your definition of minimalism? Are you a minimalist? Comment below.
I am definitely not a minimalist. I try to live by the motto “If you need it buy; if you don’t then don’t.” Now “need” is defined differently by everyone. But I don’t send that to the other extreme and define everything as a need either.
Minimalism has good tenants to it that are helpful in learning how to live a life that is meaningful, and I appreciate that aspect of it, though.
P.S. Don’t you drive a tesla? 🙂
LOL! I do drive a Tesla. I never said I was a hardcore minimalist =). And at least the car has a minimalist design, that counts for something right? 😉
It must, because I drive the exact opposite of a Tesla in terms of minamalism. V8 stick shift with 415 horse power that usually gets me about 14 mpg. But it is hella-fun to drive and has three car seats in the back!!
Cars are apparently our one finance faux-pas. I am fine with that. I am pretty sure I am doing the rest right 🙂
TPP
Sounds like a sweet ride! It ain’t a finance faux-pas if it brings you pure bliss. It value-add of happiness is priceless!
I think you’ve got the perfect definition of minimalism there. Lifestyle design and ultimately freedom is what it’s all about. Frugality and FIRE and minimalism all go hand in hand, as buying less or nothing certainly saves you money! I’m working on undoing a lifetime of maximalist packrat training now, it’s certainly a process.
Yes it all goes hand in hand. And it certainly is a process. But the end result is wonderful 😀
Hi Dr. McF,
I am definitely a minimalist. (Hardcore, medium core,, something like that.) I could travel endlessly with a 16L backpack and be wanting for nothing. I detest clutter so nothing makes it past my home doors unless I truly want it. I rarely even have to give things away since I just don’t buy much stuff anymore.
Part of being a minimalist is buying exactly what you need and want. I have 1 pair of pants that I bought 5 years ago. It is the Slim Dungarees at Outlier. These pants were almost 200.00 but I have had to buy no other pants since then. I can also wear these for weight training since they are so durable and change to dressy shoes and go out for a night on the town with them as well. And after wearing them for 5 years- they still look new!!!
(That is minimalism. One and done.)
Sometimes being a materialist who buys something extremely well made and durable but it costs more will help you be a minimalist. It’s like anything in life – it’s hard to define but you know it when you see it.
Wow Dr. MB! Your level of minimalism is quite impressive! I always knew you were frugal (probably since birth), but were you always a minimalist too? Or was it a lifestyle that has evolved over time?
For me, I am naturally relatively frugal due to modeling from my parents. But my parents were not minimalists. It was certainly a lifestyle change that my wife and I have intentionally tried to cultivate over the past few years.
I had a very excessive period in my late 30s- early 40s. I am still trying to de-clutter it. The problem with antiques is you just do not want to throw them out so my advice is do not buy them.
While it’s easy for my wife to de-clutter, I have a hard time de-cluttering too. My problem is that I can form emotional attachment to things and I often get sentimental over objects. Sounds silly, but I do. It makes it hard for me to let things go. That’s why I try not to buy new things unless it’s truly worth my time and emotional energy. Thanks for your thoughts and stopping by Hatton1 🙂
Before reading this post, when I heard the term minimalist or frugalist, I envisioned barebones living and just sacrificing everything just to be able to say you can live on $x/yr.
I really like your take on minimalism where you are just concentrating on things that bring maximum happiness and thus there is not a requirement to get rid of everything.
By not wasting money on things that don’t bring you prolong/maximum pleasure, you set yourself up for being content and financially set.
Thanks Xrayvsn! Yeah, it’s all about priorities and figuring out everything that is important in your life. All the rest is unimportant noise 🙂
Beautifully written… I’ve always felt like this lifestyle is something i will eventually evolve into doing. As well as veganism. It makes sense on so many different levels…. but yet i haven’t executed.
I feel like the amount of stuff we’ve accumulated over the years not only takes up physical space…. but also mental.
I guess the key is to start small and start somewhere. I watched the Netflix movie a couple years ago, i remember really enjoying it as well. Cheers man!
Thanks Half Life Theory! Your compliment means a lot to me, especially since I admire your work.
Yes, starting small and making incremental changes in habit can go a long way. Another way to kick start a lifestyle change is to put yourself on a 30 day challenge and see how you do and feel.
Minimalism helps my wife and I focus on everything that is important in our life. And it deceases the noise and distractions from external factors that are less important (or not important at all).
We are primarily vegan to reduce animal suffering. How our society treats a vast majority of farmed animals is very sad. My wife and I also follow a whole food, plant-centric diet because we think it’s better for the environment and optimal for our own health/vitality/longevity.
Thanks again for stopping by! 😀
Do it . . . do it now! 😉
Why do you guys have a saxophone case?! Do you play the sax!? Very cool!
I had a hard time giving away my clothes because of the memories attached. It was tough. I still emptied out my wardrobe though. I’m acing 33 things, I have about 7 to 12 real outfits after the cleanse. May have over done it a bit…
LOL! I do play the saxophone. I’ve been playing since the 4th grade. While I haven’t played a lot recently, once in awhile I will take it out and play it for fun.
I’m like you. I had a hard time giving away clothes too. Gifts are really hard for me to part with due to the emotional attachments. I’m impressed by your wardrobe cleanse. I’m sure you didn’t over do it. Plus I like your recent posts on fashionable finds!
Thanks for the reminder about Project 333. This is something I do want to try at some point. I’ve got the no spend thing down (16+ months and counting for no clothing purchased for me).
That’s awesome Angela! Yeah, for me the no spend on clothes thing is easy because I already had quite a few clothes to begin with =P
Love, love your definition of minimalism! I think you sum it up perfectly. I grew up in a house filled to the brim with clutter. My dad is a legit level 2 hoarder. I always figured I could turn out one of two ways; I could do what was normal to me as how I grew up, or I could turn out the polar opposite. I did the latter. I cannot stand clutter. For me, everything has its place and purpose and if it doesn’t, it’s out. I have also relatively recently come to appreciate minimalism in design as well. Great post!
Lol! “My dad is a legit level 2 hoarder”. That’s hilarious. Dang Cody, between your healthy diet, your minimalism, and excellent dollar habits… you have this whole life optimization thing down! 😀
Haha. Thanks! I just try to incorporate the stuff that makes sense to me as I go along.
I think I’m a minimalist. I hate stuff. I don’t have emotional attachment to any physical object. None. In fact, If I were to leave my house right now, I would be just fine taking my hard drive, passport, and folder of cards and artwork by my kids. Everything else, I can just buy when I need it. I think I have more clothes than you, but only because my wife shops for me. I keep telling her to stop. I only have three pairs of shoes, one for work, one for exercise, and one for casual wear. Everything else is just noise in my life. Great post.
Yup. Sounds like minimalism to me. I’m not a natural minimalist and removing emotional attachment to objects can be a struggle at times. But it’s a process. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I think a better word would be parsimony which means most for least. It’s from Latin Parcere which means sparing. It’s the basis of my investing philosophy which includes the efficient frontier. The notion is maximum return for least risk based on statistical analysis. Parsimony frees you from the perversion of “cheapness” and “getting by” in that you purchase the most effective thing at a correct price. Warren Buffet got wildly wealthy using parsimony.
Parsimony. I love it. That is quite a fitting word, indeed. In addition to investing within the efficient frontier, we should all aim to live life in the efficient frontier. Thanks for the insight!